<Begin Segment 3>

JS: So you went to Lincoln?

SK: Lincoln school. And that's where all the kids went.

JS: So how many in your class at Lincoln, how many Japanese were in your class?

SK: Well, all the schools, I mean, every... well, like the German kids from, I mean, that lived on the west side, they all went to Lincoln school. And there's a German kid that told me about something that happened in kindergarten, what I did, and heck, I can't even remember what happened yesterday. But he can remember that far back, he says. I don't believe that. Anyway...

JS: What did he tell you about? Can't remember?

SK: I know, but I don't want to say anything. [Laughs] There were, oh, children of Basque parents, and all three daughters were in my same class. They suddenly, all of a sudden they weren't there. I mean, maybe about first grade, they sort of disappeared. And I didn't know 'til just recently what had happened to them. But the family had moved out to Madera, and I just found out, just about a month or so ago, when they... I don't know how they got in the paper. And all three daughters, they must have been triplets. Otherwise, they wouldn't let the three different ages, age group in my class. But let's see, what else? Well, another funny incident about the Lincoln school, my neighbor across the street, she used to teach... oh, she's of Italian descent. But I knew she was teaching school. But until about, oh, a month ago, she was teaching at the same school I went to. [Laughs]

TI: Sat, going back to your, like, your class, how many in your class were Japanese? Like was it about as many whites as Japanese?

SK: Oh, yeah. It was just a small majority. I mean, in each class, there were some Japanese. But the group was, we were just maybe about a quarter.

JS: So what were the other groups? So you said German, Chinese?

SK: Chinese.

JS: Chinese.

SK: And let's see...

JS: Basque.

SK: Well, just that one family.

JS: Just that family? Italian?

SK: And some Italians, and not many... I mean, it just depended on what part of the city you came from. But I think they, they came from Russia. They were German descent, but they used to call 'em Russians. I mean, they came from Russia.

JS: So were they, they lived in the residential area as well?

SK: Oh, yeah. We lived, we were all together then. So I maybe jumped a little bit forward right now. When we went to the... when we came back to Fresno after our time in the relocation center, most of these kids that I grew up with, they were part of, they had all the good jobs with the city.

TI: We'll get back to that, I'm curious. But you know, earlier you mentioned how your friends were Japanese. Did your friends and you ever play with the other boys?

SK: Oh, sure.

TI: What kind of, how would you play with them? What kind of games would...

SK: I mean, we had... after the classes, I can't remember. But going to school, we played with each other. All of us played with each other.

TI: And what would you do? When you say "play with each other," what kind of games would guys play?

SK: Well, softball, or most any game. Oh, there were some... I just knew, there were only about two or three Mexican family. And now it's different, but in those days, there were only two or three families that I knew. And some of them turned out to be pretty good, I mean, they became judges and so forth. They were pretty high up.

JS: Were there African Americans?

SK: Huh?

JS: Were there African American in West Fresno before the war, or later?

SK: I'm sorry, I just didn't...

JS: Oh. Were there any blacks in the neighborhood?

SK: No.

JS: No? Not before the war?

SK: Oh, maybe one family, possibly two. They lived, there were very few. One was a plumber, and in fact, his son, he went to Japanese school, I don't know how long, very short time. Let's see now...

TI: That's interesting, I've never heard... so the son of the, you said the black plumber went to Japanese school?

SK: Yes.

TI: So why did he go to Japanese school?

SK: I don't know. I don't know why he was there, but he was there. Very short time. There used to be... her name was... I guess she's not here, so I'll mention her name. Belabach. That's Slavonian, I guess. Anyway, she grew up with a Japanese family. She could talk in Japanese just like any other Japanese kid.

TI: So she grew up in the neighborhood and just did all that.

SK: Yes.

JS: And did she attend Japanese school as well?

SK: No.

JS: No? Just from being around the families.

SK: Just being, yeah.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2010 Densho and Preserving California's Japantowns. All Rights Reserved.